Oil futures end lower as U.S. rig count rises – MarketWatch

Crude futures pared losses Friday but ended lower after data showed the number of U.S. oil rigs rose for a sixth straight week.On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures fell 13 cents, or 0.3%, to $41.80 a barrel. The U.S. benchmark saw a 0.5% weekly rise, aided by a two-day rebound that followed upbeat data on gasoline inventories on Wednesday.Brent crude the global oil benchmark, lost two cents to end at $44.27 a barrel, scoring a weekly gain of 1.7% on London’s ICE Futures exchange.Oil-field-services firm Baker Hughes said the number of active U.S. oil rigs rose to 381 this week from 374. Compared with a year ago, the number of rigs remains down by 289. The rise in the number of rigs over the past six weeks has added to worries about a global glut.